London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Channel crossings deal with France in final stages, says No 10

Channel crossings deal with France in final stages, says No 10

Talks on a deal with France over small boat Channel crossings are in the "final stages", No 10 has said.

The comment came as Rishi Sunak had his first meeting as prime minister with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Following the meeting, Mr Sunak said there was "not one simple solution" to tackling the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.

But he said there was an opportunity to work closely with European countries on illegal migration.

More details would be set out in the coming weeks, he added.

The Elysee Palace said the two leaders agreed "to advance coordination to face the challenge of irregular migration".

The meeting with Mr Macron took place on the sidelines of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt.

Mr Sunak said he had also been talking to other European leaders, and was leaving with "renewed confidence and optimism that working together with our European partners, we can make a difference, grip this challenge of illegal immigration and stop people coming illegally".

However, he told broadcasters this was a "complex issue and it's not one simple solution that's going to solve it overnight".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the UK needed to work "upstream" with France to stop people-smuggling across the Channel.

So far this year, almost 40,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats - the highest number since figures began to be collected in 2018.

A number of Conservative MPs raised concerns about the issue during an urgent question in the Commons.

Lee Anderson, who represents Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, said sourcing accommodation for "illegal immigrants" left a "bitter taste" when so many of his constituents could not get council housing.

Instead of blaming France and "lefty lawyers", he asked: "When are we going to go back and do the right thing and send them straight back the same day?"

Several other Tories also raised concerns about the suitability of hotels in their constituencies for accommodating migrants.

The government has blamed an increase in the number of crossings for overcrowding at an asylum processing centre in Manston, Kent.

At one point at the end of last month there were believed to be around 4,000 migrants at Manston - despite the centre being designed to accommodate only 1,600 people on a temporary basis.

On Monday, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said the numbers at Manston were now below 1,600 again.

Mr Jenrick also said the government wanted to stop using hotels to home migrants, telling MPs it was "not sustainable for the country to be spending billions of pounds a year on hotels".

He suggested "luxurious" accommodation could be a pull factor for those considering crossing the Channel and the government may instead use "some larger sites to provide decent but basic accommodation".

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy hit back at the minister's use of the word "luxurious". She said the hotels she had visited were "dire" with families living in "cramped conditions" and suffering from an infestation of bedbugs.

Last month, MPs on the Home Affairs Committee were told that the UK was spending £7m a day on hotels for asylum seekers, including groups such as Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban.

Suella Braverman, who was reappointed home secretary by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last month, has denied ignoring legal advice or blocking the use of hotels to ease the pressure at Manston.

Asked whether Ms Braverman had made the situation at Manston worse, Mr Sunak said she was making sure the numbers at the site were reduced "and we're making very good progress on that".

Earlier Grant Shapps said Manston was "tipping into becoming an unofficial detention centre" when he briefly served as home secretary last month.

He told BBC Breakfast he received "very clear advice" during his six days at the Home Office, after the resignation of Ms Braverman over data breaches in the final days of Liz Truss's premiership.

He said there were concerns people were "unintentionally being detained", which would not be legal.

Mr Shapps, who is now business secretary, said he was keen to ensure the government remained within the law and made changes to the operation of the site "to ensure that it wasn't a detention centre", while also moving people out.

He added: "Those are decisions that I very quickly made. Actually, the home secretary subsequently has continued to make the same changes to make sure that those numbers are brought down."


WATCH: Sunak on Channel migrants - We can make a difference


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
×